“Dretful sorry I didn’t fetch my readin’-specs when I come away from town. Likely, if I had I could ha’ explained its hull meanin’.”
“Dreadful sorry it wasn’t Greek, or even Latin! I could have ciphered the meaning then, if it has a meaning. But every-day French, shucks!”
“How do you know it’s French if you don’t know French?” demanded Gerry.
“Oh! I’ve seen it in Dr. Sterling’s library. I know a word or two an’ I plan to know more. Don’t it beat all? That just a little bit of ignorance can hide important things from a fellow, that way? I tell you there never was a truer word spoke than that ‘knowledge is power’.”
Melvin cried:
“Come off! That’ll do. Once you get talking about learning and you’re no good. Cap’n, you best stow that in your pocket and help us settle how to ‘follow our leaders’. For my part, I’ve no notion of sleeping out doors, now that it looks so likely to storm. What’ll we do?”
“Hoof it to the Landin’ and hire a conveyance. One that’ll carry us an’ the boat, too. That’s what she says, and if there’s a girl in the hull state o’ Maryland, or Annyrunnell, either, that’s got more sense in her little head nor my ‘fust mate’, Dorothy, you show me the man ’at says so, an’ I’ll call him a liar to his face.”
“That’s all right, Cap’n, only don’t get so excited about it. Nobody’s trying to take the wind out of Dorothy’s sails. So let’s get on. I reckon I can punt along as far as that Landing, even with a cargo of monkeys. Then Gerry can take his and skip, and we’ll take the other to our folks.”
Melvin was laughing as he talked. Gerald’s angry, disgusted face had changed its expression entirely, since that finding of the curious map which made the possibility of the “buried treasure” seem so real.
“Oh! I won’t bother now. I reckon I’d ought to go on and ask Aurora if she wants to go home with me, or not. Popper and Mommer’d be sure to ask me why I didn’t bring her. We can settle about the monkeys later.”